Theatre
in the Park: Who’s
Afraid ofWho’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?? Not TIP

by
Robert W. McDowell

Edward Albee’s theatrical dark night of the (middle-aged)
soul Who’s Afraid
of Virginia Woolf? — an
epic war of words between an underachieving professor at a small
New England college and his slatternly wife, the booze-swilling daughter
of the college president — is a fiendishly demanding R-rated
four-character drama that requires a crackerjack cast and an expert
director who knows how to orchestrate the raw emotions that erupt
during the course of a drunken late-night get-together after a faculty
party, so that the audience is sympathetic to and not repelled by
these boozy, bawdy, larger-than-life characters. It is my great pleasure
to report that Raleigh, NC-based Theatre in the Park has both. Oh
boy, does it.

Triangle diva Lynda Clark, arguably the best actress
in the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area, and TIP executive and
artistic director Ira David Wood III, arguably the best actor in
the Triangle, bring great gusto to their roles as Martha the mean
mouth, with the hollow leg and the roving eye, and George the malicious
mouse that finally roars. But they also subtly shade their characterizations,
so that the humanity in these two grotesque characters — the
college president’s slutty daughter and her disappointing helpmate,
the career associate professor — peeks through at
regular intervals.

While Clark is fussing and Wood is fuming, a funny
thing happens. The heretofore lesser-known husband-and-wife team
of Adam Twiss and Andrea Schulz Twiss, who play Nick and Honey, make
their dramatic presence felt. Indeed, the Twisses make George and
Martha’s much younger, gently sozzled late-night guests the
perfect foils for their verbally and potentially physically abusive
hosts.

Nick is a climber in academic circles, and not averse
to boffing the boss’ daughter if it will more quickly propel
him to the top of the academic ladder. Honey is a frizzy-blonde dingbat,
who tricked Nick into marrying her with a hysterical pregnancy. When
compared with George’s acid disdain and Martha’s rampaging
Id, Nick’s cynical calculation and Honey’s calculated
silliness make them formidable adversaries.

That Adam and Andrea Twiss make Nick and Honey more
than a mere match for David Wood and Lynda Clark is one of the things
that makes Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? a must-see
drama. The gorgeous set by Stephen J. Larson, the striking costumes
by his wife Shawn Stewart-Larson, and the sensitive lighting by Christopher
Johnson ALSO provide exceptional production values for a veritable
acting clinic brilliantly staged by director David Wood, who brings
the show in at just over two hours, including intermission.